


own decisions

by barrylen



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Episode: s05e17 Time Bomb, Gen, Light Angst, but not hating on him i promise, criticizing barry's decision, episode coda
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-23
Updated: 2019-03-23
Packaged: 2019-11-28 12:46:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,281
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18208511
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/barrylen/pseuds/barrylen
Summary: “Get out,” she whispers, taking a deep breath when he flinches. She knows he’ll probably be fine in a few hours, once he’s had some time to think about everything. That doesn’t make it any easier, but it gives her incentive to stay insistent. “We’ll talk when you don’t feel the urge to lock your own daughter into the pipeline anymore.”





	own decisions

The moment Barry’s flashed Nora out of the cortex, Iris chokes on a sob.

What did just happen? Nora and—and Eobard Thawne? Eobard Thawne, the _Reverse Flash_? The man who killed Barry’s mother all those years ago, the man responsible for Eddie’s death, and so many others—

She presses a hand over her mouth and stumbles forward to grip the back of a chair to steady herself, gasping in air until her breathing has calmed down and her head is a little clearer. There’s a hand on her shoulder but she ignores it and kicks off her heels so she can run after Barry down the hallway, paying no mind to everyone else shouting after her. She knows exactly where Barry’s taken their daughter, and the ache of it squeezes down on her heart.

She finds him outside of the pipeline, staring blankly down the hall.

“What did you do?” she hisses at him. She’s not surprised when he jumps like he didn’t notice her coming.

He clenches his jaw and his face turns cold, but there’s so much raw emotion in his eyes that Iris knows that above everything, he’s _hurt_. Hurt by the fact that once again he’s surprised that someone he trusted betrayed him, disappointed in himself that he let his guard down, that he let himself, his team, his _family_ be vulnerable to manipulation. Convinced that he should have known, should have seen this coming, but failed to do so. Angry that he let himself be blinded by his feelings.

And Iris does see the manipulation, the lies, how hard Nora tried to keep this secret from them. But that doesn’t excuse that Barry locked their daughter in the goddamn pipeline like she’s the worst kind of criminal, like she isn’t his own flesh and blood. Like he’s forgotten how much he loves her, what kind of impact she’s had on their lives despite everything.

“We can’t trust her,” he says, and part of Iris is inclined to agree, but her instincts are screaming at her that it’s _wrong_. And she relies on her instincts more than she relies on her head. Or her husband’s, for that matter.

So she stops herself from saying anything and just brushes by him, making a beeline for the door leading into the pipeline.

“Iris,” he’s by her side in a second as she turns around the corner to the cell. “What are you doing?”

She isn’t in any state to answer him, because seeing Nora huddled on the floor into a corner of the pipeline cell and hugging herself tightly like she’s going to fall apart otherwise, face blotchy from crying, punches the breath out of her lungs.

“What did you _do_ ,” she repeats, voice hoarse, and shakes his hand off her arm when he tries to hold her back from getting any closer to her daughter.

She walks into there with sure strides and doesn’t think twice about pushing the button to open the cell, ignoring her husband when he calls after her to stop. She’s more than thankful that he doesn’t actually try to stop her, because they both know he could lock the cell and speed Iris back into the cortex before she could blink.

Nora startles visibly when the cell doors open. Her face crumbles when she sees Iris.

“Mom,” she whimpers, pulling her legs closer to her body in a desperate attempt to make herself smaller. She doesn’t even seem to entertain the thought of escaping.

Tears well up in Iris’ eyes and she falls to her knees next to her daughter and wraps her arms around her, relieved when she accepts the embrace and presses her face against her shoulder. But then it gets worse when Nora starts shaking.

“I’m so sorry,” she hiccups. Iris has to squeeze her eyes shut when she hears the hurt in her voice. She tightens her arms, feels Nora relax a fraction. “Mom, I’m so sorry.”

“I know, baby,” she whispers into her hair, “I know.”

A scoff comes from the cell entrance, and Iris turns her head so she can look at Barry, never loosening her hold on Nora.

“How can you believe anything she says, Iris?” he says, voice low but clear enough that Nora hears and chokes out another sob. “She’s done nothing but string us along. Eobard _Thawne_. We can’t—we need to—”

“What you _need_ to do right now, Barry,” Iris cuts him off, almost surprised by how steady the words come out, “is to get the _hell_ out.”

His breath hitches, and she’d never thought she’d see him direct a look this betrayed at her, like she’s turned on him, but there it is. His lips part, and it hurts so much to see the pain in his eyes that Iris almost gives in.

Almost.

“Get out,” she whispers, taking a deep breath when he flinches. She knows he’ll probably be fine in a few hours, once he’s had some time to think about everything. That doesn’t make it any easier, but it gives her incentive to stay insistent. “We’ll talk when you don’t feel the urge to lock your own daughter into the pipeline anymore.”

For a moment he looks like he wants to argue, but then he just makes an aborted movement toward them, shakes his head, and with a last withering look speeds out of the pipeline in a storm of lightning. Iris feels the residue of electricity on her skin, the hairs on her arms standing up.

She pulls back from Nora and brushes her hair back so she can look at her face. She still looks miserable, but the sobs have faded to sniffles and her hands don’t seem to be shaking as badly anymore.

“I wanted to tell you,” Nora says. She circles her hands around Iris’ wrists and presses her cheek into her palm so she doesn’t have to meet her eyes. Iris’ throat closes up, but she cannot let herself cry, not right now. Nora continues in a whisper. “But I knew it would destroy everything, and that I’d lose your trust. I—I knew he’d hate me—”

Another sob escapes her, and Iris shushes her, wiping a tear away with her thumb.

“I believe you,” she says.

Nora’s gaze flits to her. “What?”

Iris sighs and lets go of her to lean against the wall and stretch out her legs, numb from kneeling. She takes Nora’s hand and squeezes it gently, mouth twitching when she squeezes back.

“I can’t pretend I understand why you’re working with—” She can barely say his name, has to clear her throat. “With _Thawne_ until you explain, and it may be hard for the team to trust you, for now, but I believe that you didn’t mean any harm.” Nora’s gripping her hand hard, and Iris gives her a resigned smile. “And your dad doesn’t hate you. He’s just hurt because he loves you so much and it’s… it’s a hard pill to swallow. I’m sure he’ll come around eventually.”

Nora sniffs and bumps her head into Iris’ shoulder. “What if he doesn’t?”

“That’s not gonna happen.” She hopes.

There’s the shuffling of feet out in the hallway, and a few moments later the whole team including Joe and Cecile (but sans Barry, though that was to be expected) peeks around the corner, startling a laugh out of Iris.

“Eavesdropping, were you?” she says to them, and Nora makes a protesting sound, cheeks turning red with embarrassment.

“What now?” Nora asks Iris in a small voice.

Iris gets up from the floor and brushes off her pants, then holds a hand out to Nora.

“Now we talk.”

**Author's Note:**

> I just... needed to get this off my chest.
> 
> Comments and kudos are always appreciated! ♥ Come find me on [tumblr](http://barrylen.tumblr.com).


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